Jill's Sewing Page
I finally learned to sew. I'm tired of weaving all of these oblong
pieces that I can't wear. I'd like to have some handwoven clothes
that don't look like they came straight from the 1970's Mountain
Movement.
They should call "Introduction to Sewing" something like
"Introduction to Swearing" instead. I seem to spend a lot
of time ripping out seams that aren't quite perfect. Sometimes that
drives me plain nuts.
I'm taking my classes at G Street Fabrics --an upscale fabric
and sewing store in Rockville, Maryland. They're teaching us to
sew on these elegant but expensive Bernina sewing machines. I've
had a good time, learned a *lot*, and made a few projects myself.
The first thing I made in Sewing I was a tote bag of wine colored
denim with a strip of decorative webbing sewn on the pockets that I
had to throw in. It took me a lot longer to finish this than the
others in my class. I double-stitched every handle web and structure
seam for strength. I took extreme care to get the stitching on the
handle webs as close to the edge as I could so that the web edges
wouldn't curl up. It looks great, but I never got a chance to finish
the other project in the class which was a simple T-shirt style
blouse.
My second class was Sewing II, of course. I made an A-line skirt
from a rayon that felt a bit like it was sandwashed. Though, I did
try to make a slithery polyester skirt first. That one really annoyed
me enough to make me change the whole project and start from scratch in
the third week.
I just bought a sewing machine! It's a
Janome/New Home -
My Excel 4014. I love it! It sews a nice even seam. Granted,
it's a lower end machine with basic stitches, but it does it well
and how much will I need for a while? Besides, I got it at a closeout
at one of my favorite stores for only $169, ($499 list price). The
Bernina machine that G Street Fabrics was having us use in the classroom
cost $2499, $1559 if you bought one of the used classroom machines.
My machine doesn't have all of the fancy controls that the Bernina had,
but it *is* only 1/10 the cost.
Send email to Jill.
I just bought a sewing machine! It's a
Janome/New Home -
My Excel 4014. I love it! It sews a nice even seam. Granted,
it's a lower end machine with basic stitches, but it does it well
and how much will I need for a while? Besides, I got it at a closeout
at one of my favorite stores for only $169, ($499 list price). The
Bernina machine that G Street Fabrics was having us use in the classroom
cost $2499, $1559 if you bought one of the used classroom machines.
My machine doesn't have all of the fancy controls that the Bernina had,
but it *is* only 1/10 the cost.